Flynn

RL46 - 25 VIG - 13 MND - 19 END - 25 STR - 14 DEX - 12 INT - 10 FTH - 7 ARC

Resa

RL46 - 13 VIG - 15 MND - 10 END - 12 STR - 23 DEX - 9 INT - 34 FTH - 9 ARC

Resa

We returned to the grace by the nomadic merchant that we'd just met, the furthest into Liurnia we'd ventured thus far. I was glad that we'd taken the detour for Flynn, but he was right…we had an agreement to uphold, and that meant collecting more great runes. A venture into Raya Lucaria was our best lead at the moment, so we mounted Torrent and began to set out.

The ground of Liurnia was almost completely covered with water. I could see the low walls that were meant to designate a path, but that was it…the path itself was hidden. An occasional torch lit flickering with blue light served to guide the way through the otherwise clouded sky above as Torrent trotted along, deeper into Liurnia.

It wasn't long until I noticed the familiar sight of a map obelisk along the way - a clutch of several strange creatures were crowded around it, our approach drawing their attention. We dealt with them quickly after dismounting Torrent, leaving a faint stain of red blood to float in the waters around us.

"Mind being on lookout again? I'll write down what I can." I fetched my ink and quill, looking up at the writings as I once again began translating them to a map.

"Sure…though I think the coast is clear for now."

"That's good. Let's see…you were right. There was an Evergaol up there." I continued sketching out a rough map, but I always noticed that word…Evergaol. We'd only been in two thus far, but we'd encountered a third. To know that they stretched into Liurnia as well was interesting. It likely indicated that they were scattered all throughout the Lands Between.

"Well…we can visit in due time. Anything else?"

"Something called the 'Carian Study Hall'...seems to be connected to the Divine Tower, by what I'm reading. Another mage's Rise, far to the north by a village and a church. A mine, as well…and then something called a river well. We saw one in the Mistwoods, right by the map there. Not sure where it goes. This one's labeled 'Ainsel'. The other is…" I rifled through my other maps until I found it. "Siofra."

Well we didn't see a river there…if it's a well, perhaps it's under ground?

"That would make sense. There's not much else on this unfortunately. Raya Lucaria isn't even on here, this only covers the eastern landmass of Liurnia."

"That's alright, it's not like we need a map to know where the Academy is. Need to write down anything else?"

I shook my head, inspecting my work. "Should be all good. Let's go."

As we continued on the clouds began to break, and we passed through the remains of some ruins as we continued down the path. Strange creatures wandered the path - humanoid in shape but almost animalistic in nature, crawling around on all fours. Though seemingly hostile they lacked the speed to pursue us and so we simply rode past. Soon, the trees broke and in the distance I could see the highest towers of Raya Lucaria jutting into the sky. The trail curved north, and so north we went. It was growing a little easier to follow, the trail actually breaking out of the water in certain places as Torrent galloped along, leading us closer and closer.

And then…it was gone. The trail vanished into the water with almost no trace in sight. After some careful scouring we picked it up again, but it was spotty at best. The water completely consumed everything and we caught only a glimpse of the low wall every so often until the water swallowed it up again.

However, the water contained other threats…larger ones. A massive lobster obstructed the path ahead of us, as large as the bears we'd seen in the Mistwood. I skirted Torrent around it only to find two more ahead. As we went, a jet of sickly brown liquid struck us from behind with the force of an arrow.

"What was - "

"I'm on it…keep going." Flynn grabbed his shield and guarded us from the rear as I saw another lobster raise its head up, spitting another stream of fluid at us, this one harmlessly spraying against Flynn's shield. I continued leading us on - up ahead I could see a grace, as well as another map obelisk.

As we got further away, the lobsters lost their interest. I dismounted at the grace, taking another chance to pull out the map and begin sketching. I found a couple things of note - another Rise, two churches, the Academy…something far, far to the north called the Grand Lift of Dectus, but things didn't line up. As I sketched out the town that I was in, it was immediately evident that this map was written long, long ago. There was meant to be a road traveling straight through the town that we were in, leading directly up to the Academy…but it wasn't here.

"Flynn…we might have a problem."

"What's that?"

"We…might not have a way up to the Academy. We can venture further ahead, but I'm worried that the Shattering may have destroyed the bridges leading to it."

"Or it was intentional. Liurnia wanted no part in the Shattering…perhaps they broke their own bridges so that whatever took place couldn't reach them, either. You're right though…maybe we can find something. Let's go."

We mounted Torrent again, riding off to the west, along the outer edge of the town. As we rode closer, I saw a destroyed segment of bridge half-submerged in the earth, as well as another segment much further ahead, far out of reach. "Yeah…that's about what I was worried about."

"Well let's ride closer." Flynn's tone was one of insistence - I didn't sense any sort of worry, but it was clear he wasn't ready to give up just yet. "There might be something else."

"Okay."

As we rode closer though, it became clearer and clearer that no…there was no way up. The walls continued to grow higher and higher until soon we were standing at the base of the academy. Far above us I could see a heavy iron gate set within an impossibly thick stone wall, a shimmering blue seal hovering over the gate to prevent any sort of way forward.

"I'm sorry, Flynn…I don't think there's a way."

"It's…fine. There has to be a way up…let's ask Thops. Maybe there's something he didn't think to tell us earlier."

I nodded - not a bad idea. We headed back, teleporting ourselves to the grace near the church and walked back to Thops. Unsurprisingly, the man hadn't moved, and that look of dejection had returned to him in full force. For a man trying to get back to the Academy…he sure wasn't trying very hard. "Thops?"

The sorcerer looked up, shaken from his apparent daydream. "Oh it's - you're back. Do you have…news?"

Flynn was quick to respond. "The bridge to the Academy is destroyed…we can't find a way around. Any chance you've heard of some sort of secret entrance?"

The man thought for a moment, scratching his beard. "Well…now that you mention it, maybe. Just a rumor, though. Supposedly there are a couple waygates that can take you to the main entrance…but I've never seen one with my own eyes."

"A waygate?"

To this Thops actually showed a bit of surprise. "Oh, you know…about yea high, stone ring, swirling portal in the center?"

"Oh…those." We'd been through one, when we went to find Gurranq. "Hadn't heard them called that before. Do you have any guess where these waygates might be?"

Again, Thops scratched his chin. "I…take this with a grain of salt, please…I don't want you led astray. I would guess in buildings - I guess now, ruins. The Academy used to have a few external buildings, before everything…before the Shattering."

"That makes sense. We'll keep searching, Thops…don't worry."

The man was quick to shake his head. "Thank you…really, thank you. I'll be here if you have any more questions."

"Why not out there?" Flynn's voice carried a hint of frustration with it. "If you need a key, why not search for one? If we hadn't come along, how much longer would you be here?"

"Flynn." I put my hand on my brother's shoulder, gently trying to pull him back. In truth I was thinking the same thing but…I knew to hold my tongue.

"No…it's fine. I'm just a fledgling sorcerer. If you made it to the Academy, you know what's in those waters. I tried, really I did…but I'm not cut out for what's out there. I've been waiting for a while, and I would have for longer…as long as it would have taken."

"Well…that's fair. And sorry, I shouldn't have…said that. We'll see what we can find." Flynn turned back towards the church and we headed out. It was a silent walk as he walked back towards the scenic overlook that we saw upon our arrival.

"Alright, so… ruins. I see a couple options." Flynn extended his hand, pointing to a couple areas. One was in the swamp below - we'd actually ridden through it on our way to the Academy. The other was to the east, a lone building near the water's edge. "I didn't see anything in what we passed by earlier, but I wasn't exactly looking for it. I say we give them another shot."

I nodded. "It's close to the Evergaol too…might be able to find a way up. Let's go." We circled back to the merchant, setting out on Torrent once more. Despite all the riding we'd been doing, our trusty steed was holding up incredibly well - but I was still wary of pushing him too far. We rode off down the road, quickly coming to the beginnings of the ruins we'd passed through earlier. We agreed to take it on foot and explore the ruins around us, and hopefully find what we were looking for.

The strange humanoids we'd simply ridden past earlier once again swarmed us - and this time, we had to fight our way through. Alone they weren't too fearsome, simply swiping at us or sending strange spirits our direction, but in groups they were eager to surround us. We fought our way through, cutting past about a half-dozen of them as we walked down the streets.

Soon, out of my periphery, I noticed something, an odd glimmer that stood out amidst the dull stone and water. I turned to glance at it - there it was. Set within a gazebo-likes structure was a waygate, set a good distance away from the road. "Flynn…look."

Following my gaze, he too found it. "Good eyes. Let's see if Thops' hunch is right." We veered off the path, walking towards the gazebo. When we were about halfway there though, several portals opened up from the ground, each a mix of black and yellow in a rather sickly color. From each emerged one of the strange humanoids from earlier. About a half-dozen sprung forth, several of them immediately rushing at us.

"Just make a break for it, and hope they don't follow us." Flynn pushed forward, slamming his halberd into one as its spine shattered on impact, buying us time before the other five arrived. Ahead of him, a much larger portal was opening up - and from it, an even more twisted creature…something grafted. Several sets of arms and limbs emerged in an insect-like arrangement, attached to a twisted face with a crown sat crooked atop its head. It was much larger than the other creatures. As its final limbs emerged from the portal it let out a horrid screech, immediately noticing us.

"Good idea, running!" I held up my talisman and laid down some lightning to block our rear as we ran forward. The grafted creature vomited poison at us that began to diffuse into the water, then lunged at Flynn as several sets of arms tried to snatch my brother. He thrust his shield into its face, then continued to run. He reached the stairs leading to the gazebo - two seconds later, he was through. A second later…and so was I.

When we emerged we both took a moment to catch our breaths, adrenaline still pumping through our systems. Ahead of us though was a familiar sight - just not from this angle. A massive gate set within a gatehouse, a shimmering blue crest blocking it with a triangular lattice behind it. Thankfully I saw the shimmering of a grace just ahead - it meant that we didn't have to go through those creatures to get back here again. I advanced, extending my hand and lighting up the grace.

Flynn continued walking, moving to stand right next to the shimmering crest. "There's certainly no way we're raising this gate on our own. Thops is right…we'll need a glintstone key."

"And it looks like we're not the only ones." I walked forward, noticing a corpse tucked into an alcove on the side. It was clad in the same garb many of the wandering mages wore along the roads - and in its hand was a map. I knelt down and picked it up, looking at it. In the upper right of the page was penned a depiction of raya Lucaria. Beneath that, some ruins. To the left was an island, several bright blue marks sketched over it. "Looks like a map."

"To what?"

I shook my head. "Doesn't say. Maybe a key? Perhaps someone left it here as a clue for someone that needed one. Only one way to find out."

"Can you figure out where it is?"

"Easily. There's a district called the Temple Quarter to the south of the Academy that matches what's drawn here. So this landmass must be somewhere to the west."

Flynn gave me an approving clap on the shoulder. "I'm glad you're the one making our maps. If it were up to me, we'd be lost."

"Well then, best not interfere. Now come on - I know you want to get into the Academy, but I can't resist a good treasure map." Once again we teleported back down to the town from before, mounting up on Torrent and setting off to the west. We rode through the abandoned town once more but this time skirted along the outside, making our way around it and beyond. We ventured out into the vast emptiness once more, riding by several of the large plants that we'd seen earlier. Rather than sending down beams of light though, they launched sorceries at us - ones very reminiscent of Flynn's newly learned Glinstone Stars. We managed to outpace them on Torrent as we galloped along, eventually catching sight of a couple ruined buildings up ahead.

"Alright, so this must be the Temple Quarter - which means we'll need to head north from here." I leaned to the right as Torrent angled more northwards. We broke out of the quarter as well as the trees, entering a vast expanse of water. Ahead of us looked to be our location - several large rocks jutting out of the waters below. Beyond that, up on the ridge behind it, I saw several towers…perhaps bell towers? It was hard to tell at this distance.

"So…I take it this is it?" Flynn hopped off Torrent, pulling out his greatsword and shield. "Let's see what's around."

I dismissed Torrent, unsheathing my blades and following along beside him. The place seemed abandoned - but as I got closer, I noticed some movement at the base of the rocks. I couldn't tell what, the fog masking its form - but I could tell that it was large. "Something's there…be ready."

Flynn nodded, raising his shield and taking a more militaristic advance forward. As we drew closer the creature began to take shape - a dragon. It was currently asleep but was resting just inside where the rocks met. Getting in there and searching would be impossible until we defeated it. I motioned over towards a low rock to the side, silently walking over and crouching behind it. "Alright so…plan?"

"We have to take it down…right?"

"Flynn that's…that's a dragon. The last one we saw here nearly cooked us alive." My mind flitted back to the lake in Limgrave, the two of us diving down a mineshaft in order to avoid the dragon's breath.

"Yeah…good point. Well, do you think the dragon is what was marked on the map? Maybe as a warning?"

I looked at the map once more, shaking my head. "No, there's multiple markings here. If anything, I think the dragon is guarding whatever's there."

"Well then it must be a key - that'd be the one thing the Academy doesn't want random travelers getting hold of."

"You think the Academy controls a dragon?" The words came out a bit more incredulously than I would have liked, but still…a dragon?

"I don't know…it's possible. Let's just approach silently. Maybe we can slip in without being noticed."

"No, let me slip in. No offense Flynn, it's just…we talked about this. You rattle."

Flynn nodded. "Alright, fair point. Get in there…if it starts to wake up, then we try to bring it down."

"Alright well…here goes nothing." I crouched low to the ground, advancing as silently as I could…a task made far too difficult by the ankle-deep water. Every step was accompanied by a movement of water, and as I got closer to the massive beast I could feel my nerves rising as I scanned the slumbering giant. This dragon looked…off. Its head, back, and tail were covered with blue glintstone, as if the stones itself had bonded to it over time. Its head especially was completely covered by the stones, so much so that I couldn't even see an eye…perhaps whatever had happened to it had blinded the beast?

As I took one more step forward though, the beast twitched. I froze, now only a few paces from a patch of dry ground surrounding the rocks…so close to moving in actual silence. A second passed as the dragon didn't move, and neither did I…and then as its nostril flared, I heard a low growl begin to build in the back of its throat. The beast was roused from its slumber…now to find out if we could slay it.

"Coming!" I heard Flynn charging towards the dragon from the rocks he was hiding behind, holding up his staff and launching several stars at it. The glintstone on its head practically swallowed the sorcery whole…if it did any damage at all, I couldn't tell. I rushed in while it was still waking up, taking my katana and cutting at its wing. That set it off, the dragon taking a mighty beat of its wings as it stood up, the gusts that ensued strong enough to make me stagger backwards. The dragon let out a piercing roar, rearing up before swiping its tail in my direction. I threw myself to the ground, the tail just narrowly passing above me as I half-submerged my face in the water.

As I started standing up, another mighty beat of its wings knocked me back down - and then another, and another. By the time I stood up and could look around, the dragon was in the air.

I strafed over to Flynn, still on guard. "It's made of glintstone or something. I don't think your sorceries are going to do much to it."

"Well…great."

The dragon swooped around, now flying in a wide arc to turn back towards us. As it did so, its maw opened. I expected fire - nearly every dragon we'd seen in our travels breathed fire. However…that was not what happened. A stream of raw sorceric magic spewed from its mouth in a glittering blue cloud, blanketing the waters. Flynn raised his shield above him to try and cover the both of us, but there was only so much that that did. We were assailed by the pure, cold pain of glintstone magic - as my vision turned to black, I only hoped I wouldn't suffer such pain again.

Flynn

When I came to my senses, we were back at the grace by the ruined town. The weather had changed - previously clear skies gave way to endless clouds and a heavy drizzle. I wasn't sure how much time had passed - if the weather had changed so thoroughly, at least a couple of hours? When I looked over Flynn was staring equally blankly into the flickering grace. I reached over and shook him, breaking my brother from the trance. "You alright?"

He nodded. "Yeah…just caught me by surprise, that's all. You?"

"Same was so close to getting it, that's all. A few more paces and I'd have been out of the water, and then - "

"And then we were still contending with a dragon…it's there for a reason. For all we know, it was just waiting for you to get closer. In any case, it's clear we're not ready to go back there just yet."

I nodded. "Agreed. Even if we were more prepared for a fight, at some point it's going to get into the air, and we don't have any options from there. Your sorceries barely did anything to it, and well…" I glanced down at my hand, clutching my seal. "For some reason, lightning in these lands travels along the ground."

"Well, the lightning you've found does. I'm quite confident that lightning travels through the air as well" Flynn looked up at the clouds above. "Given that the last incantation we found was in a field of lightning, perhaps we'll find something here as well."

I pulled out the map, looking it over. "Well, where to then? We've got the southern and eastern ridges mapped out. I saw some towers over to the west though. If we're looking to explore and improve our odds, we have several options."

My brother pondered for a moment, eventually coming to a conclusion. "How about the east? I felt the presence of deathroot in that direction earlier, and I'd still like to support Gurranq even if I may not follow his teachings. Plus, you said there was, what, a study hall over there?"

I nodded. "A study hall and a river well. I'm partial to exploring both and seeing where they lead. Based on the topology there's a way up not far from here, but another one much to the south. I say we take the one from the south and just make our way all the way north - don't want to miss anything."

"Lead the way."

Once again we returned to the merchant - it was the only grace we'd located along the southern edge of Liurnia thus far, but that didn't exactly make it convenient. From there we set off to the northwest, riding through the waters until we met the land in a gentle incline leading up to the eastern ridge. Far in the distance was the Erdtree - ever present, ever shining. As we rode closer we encountered more ruins surrounding the trail leading upwards.

As usual, we searched the ruins, hoping to find something within. This one was guarded by a contingent of soldiers garbed in the same as what we'd seen earlier - presumably, the crest and colors of Raya Lucaria. It took some searching to find the staircase leading downwards, this one hidden underneath some crates and barrels placed above the entrance, but before long we found the chest below. In it was a single golden talisman, carved with some sort of image on it - but I couldn't quite understand what. It looked like a sort of 'X' symbol set into a doorway, with several figures bowing in reverence down below. I held it so that Flynn could take a look. "Any chance you can make this out?"

"Well…" Flynn reached his gauntleted hand out, covering the bottom half of the talisman. All that was left was a 'V' shape - though a bit more familiar than that. "That sort of looks like the Two Fingers, yeah?"

I nodded. "It…does. Interesting. Perhaps Brother Corhyn might know more about it - no sense in tossing it aside." I tucked the talisman into my belongings as we walked back up the stairs, continuing our search of the ruins. Not much of note was left - the soldiers had grabbed nearly everything else of value. As we walked back to Torrent I pulled out my whistle, patting our steed on the flank. "We'll take it on foot for a bit…I think we've made you do enough for one day." I blew the whistle, letting Torrent vanish once more.

"That's easy for you to say, you're not lugging around a platemail."

"Oh, don't you start complaining. Back in Lordran you walked everywhere and I don't remember any complaining then."

"Yeah, that's because we didn't have Torrent back then. If we did, I probably would have appreciated a load off the legs from time to time."

I rolled my eyes. "For just a little bit, I'm sure you can make do. He deserves a reprieve from time to time…he has to carry around that platemail too, after all."

"That's…" I thought Flynn was going to finish the thought, but instead it just trailed off. He was silent for a few brief seconds, until. "What is that?"

I followed his gaze, looking up to the hill on our left. Something very oddly shaped sat in the grass not far ahead. I advanced, trying to get a better look at it. It was made of metal, with horns protruding from it at strange angles. As I got closer, I noticed other features - eyes, a mouth, a nose…strange internal mechanisms too rusted and destroyed to discern any significant details. "Faces, but…why?"

"Look." Flynn pointed to the distance, towards another one down the path. This one was a bit more intact - which only served to make it more alarming. Two cannons jutted from its mouth, and another from its ear. I could see the makings of a wheel embedded in the ground as well. "Not faces…weapons. Seems like Liurnia couldn't avoid the Shattering after all."

"You think these are from somewhere else?"

He nodded. "I was taught to always retrieve the wounded - we couldn't afford to lose anything, especially people. These don't look easy to make by any stretch - if they were Liurnia's, they'd have salvaged them by now. Someone left them here and got run off. Maybe Caelid or Mount Gelmir, perhaps."

"Mount Gelmir?"

"Right…Gideon was talking to me about that. It's…well, if I had to guess it's right there." He pointed to the north, over a rocky hill just ahead. Far, far beyond that, practically hidden by the clouds, were craggy peaks jutting into the sky. From this angle, I couldn't see much more. "There's a demigod there, Praetor Rykard. Leads a place called the Volcano Manor. Gideon said of all the demigods he told me about, Rykard's ostensibly the worst of the lot. It doesn't look to be too far from Liurnia…it's possible they tried to attack."

"I'm sure we'll be there soon enough then, if a demigod is there. Anyways, let's keep moving…I don't really want to stay around this place any longer than we already have." I continued up the hill, spotting a grace just off to the path. I activated it, giving us a convenient waypoint on the eastern ridge, and then we continued north.

Our trail took us past some more broken chunks of ruins and through a wooded area. We fended off a pack of wolves and a giant crab before eventually making it out into a clearing once again. As we did, Flynn's hand went to his head. "I…it's close. Very close."

"The source of the deathroot? I thought Gurranq made that a…less painful experience?"

He nodded. "Yeah…just a little sting, that's all." He shook his head, withdrawing his halberd and staff. "If it's this strong already, it must be out in the open like that boatsman from before. Let's just find out."

As we crested the ridge, it became just clear how spot-on that assessment was. Ahead of us was a small body of water, likely nothing more than a collection of rainwater. At its center was another undead boatsman, rowing around with some sort of horn-like paddle. Near a rock outcropping to our left was D. In his hand was a sword almost as decorative as his outlandish armor - silver and gold fused together in a highly stylized greatsword that the man had casually slung over his shoulder. As soon as he saw us he walked forward, greeting us with a nod.

"Good…I sensed that you'd be in this area. I understand that you're in Gurranq's service now. In that case, aid me in slaying this fiendish creature."

Flynn nodded. "I…have, yes. You…need our help to take this on?"

D shook his head. "No - I'm quite certain I can fell the Tibia Mariner unaided. I merely seek to know the capabilities of others in Gurranq's employ. You may return the deathroot to him for reward, have no fear. I seek not to deprive you of your standing with the master."

"It's…you're welcome to keep it, actually."

D cocked his head to the side. "You do not seek Gurranq's teachings?"

Flynn shook his head. "I'm pursuing a different path…but I still believe in liberating the dead from unrest. To that extent, I still wish to aid Gurranq and his mission."

"Hmph…you are an odd one, Flynn. And what about you?" D looked down at my hand, seeing the seal that I absentmindedly clutched. "You are a practitioner of miracles too. I understand you are not directly under Gurranq's employ, but have you need for his teachings?"

I shook my head. "I call upon the power to heal, and the powers of lightning. Having seen what Gurranq provides, I think it better used in the hands of others."

D nodded. "Very well…I will accept and deliver the deathroot, then. This is a generous offering, Flynn and Resa - one I will not soon forget."

"It's not a problem, D. Now, let's take out this…Tibia Mariner, you said?"

"Yes. It patrolls places of death and prevents the souls there from passing on. Though it is not a large threat to travelers like ourselves…it upsets the flow of life. Any you find must be put to rest."

Flynn nodded, gripping his halberd in two hands. "Well then, let's start with this one." As he marched down he raised both stave and blade above his head, coating the weapon in a shimmering magic aura. D was not far behind - and in fact, performed similarly. He held aloft his seal and blade for a moment before a wreath of golden energy surrounded the weapon. It illuminated the shallow water around D as he marched forward, ready to strike. The two looked like mirrors of one another - heavily armored, weapons empowered by their study, and determined to eliminate the threat ahead of them.

And to little surprise, we did - as D said, these Tibia Mariners were far from a threat to our lives. It utilized similar tactics to the previous one we fought - raising skeletons from the nearby graves to attack us, teleport away, and command the water to strike at us with its boat. I noticed that D's weapon was capable of felling the skeletons permanently, and he frequently went out of his way to strike them down when they'd been injured. I aided him in that, laying down patches of lightning to strike both the Mariner and those that it raised. Flynn focused his efforts on the Mariner, though with the wide reach of his halberd he too struck down other skeletons. Soon, we were successful.

In the Mariner's wake were two things - two familiar things. One, a deathroot - Flynn lifted it up and offered it to D, who happily accepted it. The other was the urn of a spirit ash…I eyed it skeptically. The previous Mariner had bequeathed us the ashes of skeletons…perhaps it was just bad luck? I lifted them up and held out my bell, giving it a ring.

Rising up from the ground was a lone figure - a lone, skeletal, figure. Immediately I rang the bell again out of frustration, dismissing the spirit. "That's it…no more of these." I took the urn and set it down, pulling out the previous skeletal urn and leaving it as well. "We have other options that aren't skeletons…and I'd prefer to keep it that way."

"Have we…found any other Ashes?"

"Well there's…" I sputtered, trying to find my words. "We have Argyn, Aurelia, the imps, and…"

"And?" Flynn crossed his arms, leaning to one side. Sometimes I wasn't sure whether his expression hiding behind a helm was good or not.

"And that's all we need." I spoke matter-of-factly, but I knew it wasn't exactly true. We were finding more and more terrifying beasts - like a dragon guarding our key. Nothing we'd found would offer us meaningful aid in a fight against that, or other flying adversaries.

"You can find Ashes in the catacombs around this land." I turned to look at D as he continued. "Catacombs are built close to the Erdtree's roots. Our dead are buried there to aid them in the journey. If you seek Spirit Ashes, there is no better place to look."

"Thank you, D. We'll keep that in mind."

"And another thing, Resa, before we part ways. There is a knight not far north of here. I have no business with it - but I suspect you do. You will know when you find it. With that, I bid you good travels and good hunting."

"Wait - " As D started to walk away I called out. He took one more step and then stopped, waiting patiently. "The incantations you use. Whose teachings do they follow?"

"The Golden Order's, through and through. I can teach you if you are so inclined, but be wary. Study of the Golden Order is not one of blind faith. One must learn and understand their principles in order to apply them. It is a path not fit for every cleric."

I nodded. "Very well then. Should I wish to pursue them, I know where to find you. Safe journeys, D."

D gave us one final wave and then marched off to the south. I looked back at Flynn, shrugging. "So…I suppose I'm inclined to keep heading north?"

"Alright then…let's keep going." We set off to the north, heading through another copse of trees clustered along the trail. As we emerged from that we saw another panoramic view of Liurnia, the Academy towering high above all else in the background. Despite that, my eyes for fixed on something much closer - a lone knight clad in gleaming gold armor. It patrolled the trail not far from us, its back currently to us. In one hand it held a large ovular greatshield, and in the other a sword. It wore a tabard with a different color than what we'd seen thus far - not of Limgrave, nor of Liurnia. "Do you think that's it?"

"Well, D said we'd know, right?" I kept walking forward, though I reaffirmed my grip on my blades.

The knight reached the end of its patrol and turned around, immediately spotting us. Its helm completely covered its face but I knew almost immediately - it wanted a fight. It charged towards us, greatsword gripped in two hands as it lunged forwards, the blade glancing off of Flynn's shield. It immediately pivoted, spinning around to hold its sword aloft to the skies above. Suddenly lightning coursed through the blade, arcs of electricity crackling up and down along its length. It stepped forward and swung down, once again being stopped by Flynn's shield. A moment later however, and a bolt of lightning streaked down right on top of Flynn, completely bypassing his shield and striking him on the shoulder.

Yeah…I think this is the one.

I circled around to the side, angling for a counterattack. My incantations wouldn't be worth it here, I needed to focus on my weapon. I slashed at its hip, and then the back of its knee, quickly retreating as it tried to whip around and catch me unawares. The maneuver only served to give Flynn an opening, my brother lunging forward with his greatsword, and then raising it overhead as he formed his Carian greatsword. I immediately took the opportunity to make another quick strike with my katana, the knight forced to raise its shield to defend against Flynn's monumental strike, and even then the Carian magic broke the knight's block. I finished it off by plunging my blade into its defenseless back. I expected to hilt the weapon, but something it either wore or carried blocked my blade's path. As it fell down I immediately searched it - just what did it bear that blocked sharp steel?

I found my answer in a book, carefully hidden beneath its tabard in a sling. The covers of the book were hewn from stone and then bound in yellowed leather, a symbol of a dragon etched into the front cover. The covers were connected by two metal clasps that I popped open, taking a look inside.

Inside were…prayers, by the looks of it. Prayers to deities that I'd never heard of before, but seemed to bear some connection to dragons and other…the book called them 'dragonkin.'

"What is it?"

I looked at Flynn, holding it out. "Prayers to the gods of this land…but not Marika and her lineage. This book worships something else. I imagine one could study the prayers in here to learn a good deal about these gods and their teachings. I'm not sure why D recommended I come here, though."

"Perhaps if you study it you can learn to do what that knight did? Clearly it was a follower of these gods…or I suppose, presumably."

I flitted through the pages…there were a lot. "This is more than I have time to study, though perhaps you're on to something. Perhaps Corhyn would have an interest in this, then. I know he worships the Two Fingers, but…perhaps he would entertain the idea of studying a different religion? As the words left my mouth I knew it felt wrong…but now that I had this book, I wanted to know just what was taught in here.

"Well…we can worry about that soon." Flynn looked up towards the sky. "It's getting dark, and given how overcast it always is here I'm not too keen at traveling through the night. I say we either head to the Roundtable Hold or try to find shelter."

"Actually…I have a third idea." I looked at the map, approximating our position. "That Ainsel Well isn't too far from here. That leads underground, at least one would think. Might be a more interesting way to wait out the night. You're in luck, too…if I'm reading the topology right, we'll need Torrent's help to get there."

"Well." My brother scoffed. "Why didn't you say so sooner. Lead the way."

I summoned Torrent, the two of us saddling up - as much as I gave Flynn flack earlier, it was nice to not be on my feet again. I urged Torrent northwards up towards a small shack where we briefly dismounted to pick up a grace before continuing north. We rode on, reaching the edge of the cliff and continuing out on some jutting rocks, an opposite cliff face not far ahead…this was the part that needed Torrent. As we reached the utmost edge our steed leaped into the air, jumping from one rock to the next as he crashed down with a thud before galloping onwards.

Ahead of us were several red-hot slug creatures, so hot in fact that their mere presence was burning the grass around them, though the fires didn't last long with how damp the grass was. We rode past them and head down the slope to our east, picking up another grace before switching back as we continued our descent. We passed by a small clutch of strange men - they were clad in red garb and two of them held stavesthat perpetually burned with fire, a third carrying a large flanged mace. I felt Flynn's gaze linger on them for far longer than it needed to before we turned away from them, heading towards the well.

"We're coming back here."

I nodded. "I figured you'd say that…that's fine."

Ahead of us was the well - though more importantly, a towering golem stood just before it. This one wielded an all-too-familiar halberd and watched us approach, though beyond tracking us with its head the figure was otherwise motionless. As we drew even closer, the doors on the cistern began to open of their own volition - no person either inside or out that could seemingly could have opened it. We dismounted and eventually dispatched the golem - though a massive foe, it was one we'd faced several times before. Without further ado, we walked inside.

Inside the circular well was a single stone platform, a button in its center. Where usually I expected chains, I saw none - if this truly did lead down, perhaps it was sat upon a pillar that would lower? I wasn't sure. I stood on it, then gestured to Flynn. "Let's find out just what's down here." Once Flynn was on, I activated the button.

A chilling blue glow flared out from the button outwards, illuminating the entire platform in silvery-blue, flowery decorations. As it reached where chains would be, four columns of blue light emerged, as if tethering it to the ceiling.

And then we went down.

And down.

And down. What I had thought would be only a couple seconds turned into dozens of them. A narrow crevice of light came from somewhere, illuminating a ground far deeper than I even thought possible. As we drew closer, I made out more details - a ruined pillar, a collection of discarded stone coffins, a grace…a river, though so shallow and thin I had to wonder if that was truly what the well was here for. The pillar especially signaled that something had been down here - architecture, perhaps even civilization.

As the elevator came to a stop, it did so on a small stone terrace lined with a railing, a short staircase descending until it merged with the natural rocky ground of the cave network. I walked forward with trepidation, extending a hand towards the grace.

"This is…incredible. Who would have thought that something this big was hidden away so deep underground?" I looked at Flynn, the wonderment still in my eyes. However, his gaze was fixed on something else entirely.

"Let's perhaps temper your expectations, Resa. Look over there."

I followed his gaze - and perched along the top of a tunnel entrance were ants….ants the size of a horse. "Oh…my."

Flynn nodded. "Yeah…let's be on our guard down here. We might be safe from whatever's above us…but I think there's equal threats below ground."